The more I dig into astral work, shadow work and crack in general, the more abstract my view on people (and all entities) becomes. My experiences have shown me that most, if not all of us have another “us” inside of ourselves. Sometimes this person looks just like us, sometimes they look entirely different. Sometimes we’re really good at hearing this person, other times we are completely oblivious.

But generally speaking, this part of us is usually a lot more well adjusted and big picture oriented than we are.

Some people might experience this part of themselves as a voice of reason in the back of their heads. Maybe some of us mistake our inner selves as the gods we worship (or perhaps the gods are screaming for our inner selves because we’re too deaf to hear our own voices). And in some cases, some people consider this inner portion…

The Laughing Jester, at the Art Museum of Sweden, Stockholm. 15th century

Ah, Le Fou!

He’s so hard to pin down! He has the number of zero, yet some place him (or her) at the start of the deck; others at the end; still others at the middle. And even when you think you have placed him (or her) appropriately, she or he pops up unexpectedly with words of wit that can ring clear and yet leave a a whelp where the truth hit! There are so many sides to this card–and in a reading, this only adds to its playful, trickster nature–should you be embracing your inner “fool”, or are you truly acting as a fool?

Many traditional interpretations site the Fool as a card which signifies new beginnings, a sense of adventure, free-spiritedness, absence of worries or planning, naïveté, a new perspective, ignorance, childishness, being rash, going where the wind takes you, being blind to reason…you get the picture. Its the first step you take on a journey–not knowing what to do to get where you must go. Perhaps you are scared, though you may also be excited! You don’t have many resources in your pack, but you are well on your way! Its the beginning of a cycle.

The fool from a Marseilles deck done by Jean Dodal. Dates to very early 1700s.

But this is not all the Fool stands for. Sallie Nichols wrote a book Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey which investigates the Major Arcana’s archetypes from a literary and cultural (at times cross cultural) perspective. Sometimes, she touches upon the traditional meanings we find in Tarot. However, she looks for meaning in the cards from the Marseilles deck using literary, cultural,psychological, and religious sources. It is a very interesting read if only because it asks you to look at these cards from a new perspective. After coming to ponder all the different lights to see this card, I feel the overall theme is “Outsider”, with a more specific theme of “light-heartedness; wonder; folly; imagination; novelty; trust/mistrust”. More

This post lead me to reflect on Ma’at. The author makes the point that faith isn’t solely about a relationship with the divine; this is something I tend to forget. For a long, long time, that’s what my faith was about: building and maintaining a relationship with the divine. In this respect, my spiritual path has allowed me to meet this goal. However, I have come to rediscover the purpose of my path. I want my path to give me a sense of peace. I want my path to give me that little quiet spot so that when my head is spinning, I still have a quiet spot within me to direct me wisely and remind me of what really matters.

On a Kemetic path, a relationship with the gods is sure to follow, but the primary goal for EVERYONE, it seems, is to uphold Ma’at. We as well as the gods can be a part of Ma’at’s ushering into our communities. At least, this is the vibe I’m getting. The gods are here to help us live within Ma’at. But what is that? The aforementioned author admitted that she didn’t know. And honestly, I’ll admit that I don’t really know either. What does it mean to live Ma’at? More